Sunday, May 2, 2021

Happy Easter! (Greek Easter I Mean)

 Although I'm not Greek Orthodox I am half Greek. Growing up we always celebrated both Easters.  My Mom's relatives would do the whole roast the lamb on the spit and tons of food thing and we would go and manage to have a good time even though we didn't speak Greek and didn't understand many of the grown-ups.  But the memories of those days have stayed with my siblings and myself and have become sweeter over the years as all those adults that were there have now passed on.  I know many of my cousins have taken over those traditions and it makes me happy when I see that on Facebook.  Today we decided to gather our kids and Grandkids and celebrate Greek Easter since we didn't  get to have regular Easter in April because of my accident.  So I made some traditional Greek foods and we did ribs instead of Lamb and there were lots of other goodies brought by those that came today.  We had  our traditional Easter Egg hunt and even did an Easter Egg hunt with the adults who seemed to have as much fun as the littles!  We put money in the little kiddo eggs and the adults had candy in theirs and then were awarded lottery tickets when they completed the hunt.  A few won a little dough even!  The weather was perfect, the food was really good and the smiles and laughter made it all the better.  My hope is they all will have fond memories of time spent with YaYa and PawPaw and remember the traditions we've shared.  My sweet  Mom was on my mind today as I was putting out the food and making sure everything was going well...just like she did when I was little and also when I was all grown up.  I sure hope she had a smile on her face in heaven  as we celebrated her heritage along with our family traditions.  Miss you Mom!  Here's just a few pics of today.  I usually snap food pics but I guess I was too busy having fun!

The weather was sunny and warm and perfect for gathering on the deck.
Lexi is old enough to get the Gator out and give rides to the younger ones and keep them entertained before lunch.


The kids enjoyed the Easter Egg hunt and then they hid the eggs for the adult hunt.
The dude in this pic is our #3 son, Phil.  2 things about this make me smile.  #1...It's been many years since I saw him carrying his own Easter basket hunting for eggs and #2...He's pretty grey on top!  But it looks good on him and his Dad always says..."Our hair may be grey but at least we have a full head of hair!"  True words.
The hunt was divided into teams and team Jackie and Evelyn were the first ones done! Winner, winner chicken dinner!  Well, actually rib dinner and Jackie had a $20 winning ticket!


A couple of other egg hunters...Summer and her brother Anthony and Driana and her fiance, Jonathan. Driana won $20 too!  Some others won small amounts but at least not all were duds!


Everyone was busy scratching off those tickets! We decided this was going to be an annual event and I was glad they all enjoyed the day and the games.  I love it when we can all gather together and make memories.  Happy Easter everyone! 


8 comments:

jack69 said...

Love the pictures. We never knew of the two different Easters. Very interesting. Looks like some family fun. WE had a fun family day here today and we are beat.
Sending the best of thoughts your way.\
Sherry & jack in NC

betty said...

I always like seeing people gather together again during these "unprecedented times" so your family celebration looked like so much fun! Glad it will be an annual event in your neck of the woods!

betty

Shady Del Knight said...

Hi, YaYa!

It does my heart good to see a family gathering at The Pines and pictures that bring back happy memories of the olden days before the plague struck. It was a great idea to welcome your family members over to celebrate Greek Easter, keeping family traditions alive and a perfect way to honor your dear mother. I'm sure she was smiling down upon the scene as you presided over the affair serving tons of food and making sure everything went smoothly. The meteorologist cooperated - no snow! - and your lawn, visible in the background of these pictures, looks as lush, green and well manicured as Augusta National Golf Club. It looked like an ideal setting for Easter egg hunts, two of them, one for the kiddos and one for the adults. I wish you would have snapped a pic of the Creepy Woods Yeti carrying his cute little Easter basket as he joined the hunt. Yessum, I'll bet it did give your heart a twinge to see son Phil sporting gray hair and carrying his basket. I'm sure it brought back fond memories of him participating in the events as a little boy. Congratulations to Jack Jr. and Evelyn for winning the adult hunt and bringing home the bacon... uh... I mean the eggs. It was a pleasure to see long awaiting new pictures of those in attendance including Lexi, Summer, Anthony, Driana and Jonathan. I think I also spotted my old friends Addy Rae-Rae, Cam, and The Professor and Mary Ann.

Yessum, this was a genuine memory maker, and I'm excited you plan to turn it into an annual event at The Pines. I'm sure your wonderful family is equally excited. I hope you are feeling well. Have a wonderful week, dear friend YaYa!

acorn hollow said...

We are having our family easter at the end of the month. It looks like lots of fun and winners on scratchers is great.
cathy

Julia said...

I love your idea of Easter celebrations with the family. It looks like so much fun and I can only imagine the greek food. I wish I could have dropped in for a bite. I love Greek food and was introduced to it by a friend who married a Greek. The weather was perfect on that day as I can see from the photo. I can picture your mom smiling from above.

Take care, hugs
Julia

joeh said...

It is a pretty important event, worth celebrating more than once.

gin said...

Love the pictures! Your boys will always be your boys, I love that he’s carrying his own Easter basket, too. Yes your Mom is smiling down upon you.

Prims By The Water said...

How fun that your son went Easter egg hunting! How nice to celebrate 2 Easter traditions. I so love lamb. My hubby is half Lebanese and we love lamb meat pies and I love all lamb. In Koussa, grilled and hubby even eats it raw in Kibbe. Memories with family are always treasured! Janice